Himachal Pradesh has never seen such an intense political crisis. The revolt has led to a sans-dialogue situation between the rebels and the Sukhu-led-government. Meanwhile, the BJP has also invited criticism for being too power hungry, too early in the state.
Himachal Pradesh is witness to an unprecedented political crisis as it’s the first time that nine MLAs, including six Congress rebels and three Independents, out of 68 members, are out of the Assembly membership within just 14 months of tenure, and have joined the opposition party.
The ground is now shaky for the ruling Congress and the stage is probably set for an ugly electoral battle. Personalised attacks may gain momentum in the Lok Sabha polls and the Assembly by-polls to six constituencies vacated by the disqualification of the Congress rebels, to be held on June 1, 2024.
The Election Commission of India, however, has not notified by-election to the three Assembly seats vacated after the resignation of the Independents yet.
The social media handles favouring the Chief Minister openly condemn the rebels and the independents for falling into the money trap with the slogan ‘Jan-bal Jitega, Dhan-bal Harega’ (Peoples' power will win and Money power will lose).
The rebels and the independents, who returned to Shimla on Saturday night after joining the BJP in Delhi, said they have much to disclose, which they will do in the due course of time.
All nine MLAs are up against CM Sukhu personally and have said that they were harassed and humiliated by the government.
The strength of Congress in the 59-member Assembly at the moment is 34 and BJP has 25 MLAs. The efforts of the BJP are aimed at increasing its strength in the Assembly and threaten the stability of the Congress government further.
Congress sources said there is a general feeling in the party that the government spoiled its game by not trying even once to placate the rebels before or after the Rajya Sabha poll through dialogue, and instead alienated them more by condemning them and then disqualifying them.
The party's high command too failed in its authority for not having addressed the brewing dissidence on time that made the rebels cross-vote in the Rajya Sabha poll, leading to the victory of the BJP’s nominee.
The opposition BJP, which cashed in on the rebellion within the Congress quickly, has also invited public criticism for treating all the nine MLAs as VIPs, spending lavishly on their stay outside the state for almost 23 days in CRPF protection and providing them a private chopper to and fro Shimla, until they officially joined BJP in Delhi on Saturday.
“We have never seen such a situation in Himachal Pradesh earlier which is known for certain decorum in politics. There were incidents of defection in the ruling party or revolt against the Chief Minister long back also, but the environment did not go so bad. In this case, there was no dialogue just allegations and accusations.
The Congress party did save the government after this revolt, yet the situation is going from bad to worse politically and it affects governance. The BJP, on the other hand, is so hungry for power so early, which the ordinary people can’t digest,”
said some political observers.
The disqualified MLAs and the ones, who resigned, too are not finding favour in the general political discussions on social media as there is open criticism they are imposing by-polls on the state so early for their ambitions. Some Congress rebels reportedly decided to revolt after they were not given any chair in the government, and some others just followed them for extraneous reasons.
All said and done, the Congress party is engrossed day and night in the ‘damage control’ or retaliation with things slipping out of its hands fast at a time when it should be busy with ground preparation for the Lok Sabha polls and Assembly by-polls, the BJP too is facing opposition from within, after it welcomed the Congress rebels and independents.
Giving them Assembly tickets from the nine constituencies they vacated recently would be a difficult job for the BJP now, as some constituencies already have former BJP ministers or former MLAs (who lost the 2022 Assembly polls) as claimants for tickets.
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